Beauty in the heart, for Bruce Ovbiagele

CONSIDER this for a setting. A lad called Bruce Ovbiagele, with ancestral roots in Eme-Ora, raised by middle-class parents in the finest tradition of all that is worthy and noble, is armed with a priceless West African School Certificate from Igbobi College, Yaba. He sets off on a career in 1956 as a Clerk in the then Ministry of Justice and Local Government, commuting to the Secretariat daily from Ekotedo, on a cranky Raleigh bicycle that in many ways was a blessing to roadside repairers and tyre vulcanisers.

Then zero-in on a bullet point in his bio-data, as the first of 13 children in a nuclear family, yes the same figure 13 you know as nine plus four, before death intervened at various times to deliver its own icy version of downsizing. That I reckon paints a foreboding canvass of anxiety and a cocktail of problems.

What to do? Bros, as we all call him, accepted responsibility to stretch his Clerk’s salary across house rent, food, health care and incidentals, tottering from payslip to payslip, in a marathon foray of epic forbearance. With no help from anyone else as he was more than seven years older than his immediate sibling, at the time a primary six pupil, there was frankly nothing left for Bros for indulgences of any kind, incident to his age and circumstance.

Undaunted by scale of the challenges that confronted him, he was determined to build a strong work ethic and soon earned reputation as a bright serious-minded high-achieving officer, uncompromising about quality deliverables and goal attainment.

Those attributes propelled him on an upward career trajectory that included WNTV-WNBS as one of their pioneer presenters; the famous recording company Phillips Nigeria; Controller Commercial Service in Radio Nigeria; London Representative of Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation; pioneer Controller Public Relations of Radio Nigeria; Marketing Manager of the famous Outdoor Advertising giant Afromedia; with a grand finale in Broyon Nigeria, a frontline advertising agency he founded and managed profitably.

For a man who is hardly superfluous of compliments, he breaks easily into a praise chorus now and again, for the following personalities as mentors and supporters, in his steady climb upstairs: Reverend  Eramus Victor Badejo, one Australian broadcasting icon Gary Blackledge, Chief Emmanuel Bello-Fadaka, Elder Steve Rhodes, Chief  Simeon Olaghere, plus and always in a pitch of robust gratitude, Dr. Christopher Kolade.

Imitation, they say, is the purest form of flattery. Whilst virtually all of his siblings live or try to live lives modelled on his values, it is a shame they’ve all been a poor copy of his dress sense which even to this day compels sustained attention and ready generous compliments. Either when he flings styles and forms to speak unity in a mute dialogue of sorts, or toss contrasting colours almost violently, into a sartorial visual that taunts and delights. On the other side of the balance sheet, there are times we wonder just how much sweeter he would have been, if he were just a little more diplomatic and a shade less direct.  Or get him to recognise and accept that wide spectrum of grey, of various hues and density, between black and white. For him, standards are absolute, not comparative.

Talk of the goodwill and labour of our heroes present, alive and active to paraphrase a popular line in our national anthem, this writer had a humbling experience at an interview in 1969 to recruit Client Service Trainees into Lintas, at the time adjudged the biggest advertising agency in Africa. Fully “prepd” for the exercise by Bros, with useful tips from Mr. Segun Ogunbunmi who was later a senior colleague, multiple rehearsals in front of a mirror and a sharp dark suit to boot, it could be said I was fully-kitted to roll.

Nothing prepared me for the drama that ensued or more correctly, the disappointment of no-show. After preliminaries which connected me with the CV before the panelists, Deputy MD, Roy Simpson who chaired the session, knocked me down cold, with a punch no physical conditioning would have prepared me for. I heard him say in a clear deliberate tone “ …if you are Bruce’s brother, it is fair to assume you are good. You have a job here and now, and bright career prospects, if you so desire.” That was all of the so-called interview. What a benumbing anti-climax, albeit flattering and a frightening expectation from a management group, that was banking on the filtered influence of a known performer, of proven and considerable gravitas.

Bros showed his siblings love at agape level. His philosophy accords with Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s position on human life having “…meaning only to that degree and as long as it is lived in the service of humanity.”

His labour of love must be the reason for the tidal wave of blessings, that have been his lot. A still beautiful and loving wife Helen, Woman Editor of Vanguard Newspapers for over 25 years and author of several novels of critical acclaim, with whom he begat a Professor of Medicine; a foremost banker turned film producer; a chartered accountant; a marketing professional forever in high demand; a prize-winning pharmacist.

A younger sister chanced on me assembling my thoughts about this short tribute and suggested it was better suited for a more memorable milestone in October 2016 when he turns 80, the Lord permitting. That made a lot of sense, but also as much as Shakespeare’s teasing lines in the Merry Wives of Windsor: “Better three hours too soon, than a minute too late.”

This God-fearing man has earned the right to be loved, respected and hero-worshipped. Wouldn’t it be so nice if sometime in the near future, all people of goodwill gather to see Bros’ grateful siblings in some Pentecost re-enactment, speaking in tongues, understood by people of all tribes and all nations. All of the tongues flaming with one subject only: just how much we owe this patron saint of care.

The late blind and deaf American activist Helen Keller once said “… The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched or expressed. They must be felt in the heart.” That is certainly hearty consolation, for our pathetic inability to adequately express our deepest appreciation to one brother of a kind.

One boy, who became a man overnight, with responsibility for 12 siblings, plus an enhanced duty of care to overburdened parents and so on. That is some story to be told in some depth, another day. Whilst that day beckons, we pray that what Apostle Paul in his second letter to the church at Corinth, calls “the extravagant love of God and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit,” will remain his portion.

•Ovbiagele was Client Service Director, Lintas and later Managing Director of Macsell Advertising.